Babylon Staking Players: 21 Million Bitcoin Released, This is the Reason?

Bittime - After the massive airdrop of BABY tokens, more than $21 million (around IDR  352.8 billion) in Bitcoin was suddenly "unstaken" by early users. 

Is this a sign of distrust? Or is it just a common short-term strategy? Check the reasons in this article!

BABY Airdrop: Mass Unstaking Trigger?

Source: mononaut

On April 3, 2025, Babylon Foundation officially distributed 600 million BABY tokens. This equates to 6% of their total token supply. 

This airdrop was given to early contributors and program participants Babylon staking, especially those who participated in Phase 1.

Shortly after the airdrop took place, a wave of unstaking occurred. Within 24 hours, as many as 256 BTC (worth more than $21 million or around IDR 352.8 billion) was withdrawn from the Babylon staking protocol. 

This data was shared by Bitfeed developer Mononaut, who noted that the unstaking transaction cost 1.35 BTC and filled about a third of a Bitcoin block.

Read also: Babylon Protocol Airdrop: Bitcoin Staking Platform Gives Out 10 Billion Free BABY Tokens

Why Do Many Unstake Bitcoin After the Airdrop?

According to Fisher Yu, Co-Founder of Babylon, their platform does offer a different approach compared to Ethereum or Solana. In Babylon, users do not earn returns in the form of Bitcoin itself, but receive BABY tokens as a form of reward on their BTC staking. 

This is what makes some users choose to "cash out" their BTC after getting BABY tokens, a behavior known as "short-term redemption".

Bitlayer founder, Kevin He, also referred to this action as This is normal in the short term. He emphasized that high transaction costs and the use of large blocks of space were part of Babylon's initial design and did not reflect the long-term condition of the project.

BABY Token Airdrop Details

Airdrop BABY tokens are divided into several main groups. The following is the distribution:

• 335 million BABY for staking participants in the Base Phase-1 phase

• 200 million BABY for participants who continue staking to Phase 2

• 30 million BABY as general staking participation

• 30 million BABY for NFT Pioneer Pass holders

• 5 million BABIES for open-source contributors on GitHub

MInterestingly, all tokens are sent directly to the registered address — without a manual claim process, speeding up distribution and making it easier for users.

Read also: What is Crypto Staking: Definition, Advantages and Risks

BABY Token Listing on OKX

After the airdrop, BABY tokens immediately stole the attention of crypto exchanges. Well-known platform OKX immediately opened trading pre-market futures BABY/USDT. 

Currently, the BABY token is listed as having a price of approx $0.065 (around IDR 1,092 per token) with a market capitalization of approx $650 million (around IDR 10.92 trillion), placing it in 109th position in the list of crypto assets based on market cap.

FAQ

1. What is Babylon Staking?

Babylon Staking is a protocol that allows users to stake Bitcoin to secure a proof-of-stake based blockchain network.

2. Does staking on Babylon not earn BTC?

Correct. Unlike staking on networks like Ethereum, rewards on Babylon are given in the form of BABY tokens, not in the form of BTC.

3. Can BABY tokens be traded?

Currently BABY tokens are traded on pre-futures markets such as OKX, and will soon be available on the spot market.

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Start with registration and identity verification, then make a minimum deposit of IDR 10,000. After that, you can immediately buy your favorite digital assets!

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Also, visit the Bittime Blog for interesting updates and educational information about the crypto world. Find reliable articles about Web3, blockchain technology, and digital asset investment tips designed to enrich your crypto knowledge.

Reference 

99Bitcoins, Bitcoin Staking Platform Babylon See’s Users Unstake $21M In BTC Following BABY Token Airdrop, accessed April 8, 2025.

Cointelegraph, Babylon users unstake $21M in Bitcoin following token airdrop, accessed April 8, 2025.

Author: Y